The Order of Draconis
by Ada Kensington
Summary: Oldest, and therefore older than hell.
1. Prologue

"Sirius

THE ORDER OF DRACONIS

He had never regretted turning to the Dark Lord.He, Peter Pettigrew, was in command of his own troop of Death Eaters.The likes of Avery, Nott, MacNair and even that slimy Lucius Malfoy were all under his control. The sheer power was intoxicating. 

The pale moon cast a feeble light over the grounds of the Ministry of Magic Headquarters and made his silver arm glisten lucidly. The night air felt pleasantly cool upon his face, the breeze rippling through his robes.He perched upon the rock, looking over the ranks of his Death Eaters, while keeping watch for Nott's signal.The Lord had specifically stated that the Dark Mark was not to be used, as it would attract undue attention, so a simple flare charm was to be used for the occasion.

When Nott signalled, they would split, one section were to take the East Wing, and the others, the West Wing. They would descend upon the unsuspecting Ministry fools silently, and without warning.They would take the Ministry tonight.

*********************************************************************

"Sirius! Severus!I'm not going to tell you again!" she hissed."Would you please do your best to refrain from using such – language in front of Harry".

Minerva McGonagall sat back in the soft, black leather armchair, her arms crossed and her eyes narrowing dangerously.Severus knew only too well that "warning look," and from the looks of it, she was going to start up again any moment now…

"And you of all people, Sirius.Harry is your Godson. You should be setting a good example to him…" she chided.

"Ah. Right on cue," he thought."Now she rounds on me…"

"…and you, Severus.As a professional, you should be well aware of the effects".

While Minvera was off on a rant, he cast a quick glance over at Sirius.He noted the awkward expression on Black's face and smirked inwardly.Why, Black seemed positively ashamed.His eyes kept darting over to Harry as if checking to see if he had hurt him or damaged him in any way.He knew what Black saw in Harry, as he saw it too.Harry Potter, did indeed, greatly resemble his father. He knew Black still blamed himself for the Potter's death, and by making it up to Harry, he supposed, would be like making amends with James Potter.

Harry Potter, however, was sitting in the armchair next to Minerva, looking around the lavishly decorated anti-room with awkward diffidence and trying not to be the cause of any more bother between the two men.He quickly turned his gaze back to Minerva, who was about to finish her little speech.

"Not that I really give a shit," he thought.

" Albus trusts you both, and he expects to hear of no trouble between you two.Now apologise".

Sirius ran a hand sheepishly through his hair. He glared at Snape and then mumbled a less than heartfelt apology.

He returned Sirius's glare for an icy cold stare and grunted his own apology in return.He sat back in the armchair of the waiting room and picked up a three year old copy of "Witch Weekly".They had already been waiting for Cornelius Fudge for around twenty-five minutes, even before the incident.

He absently flicked through the pages of the magazine, stopping only once to graffiti the glossy photo of Gilderoy Lockhart.Black had now resumed his animagus form in which he came, and was now sitting at Harry's feet, Harry petting Black behind the ears.

He knew that it was extremely risky to bring Black to the Ministry Headquarters, but Dumbledore had been quite insistent that he should come.He wanted Sirius "to have first-hand information about his situation with the Ministry", should Black ever have to…lend a hand.

"Yes. In the coming years, we're going to need all the help we can get," he whispered.

*********************************************************************

Unknown to the occupants of the building, there was a small gathering of people whispering and gesticulating frantically.In the shadow of the west wing of the Ministry of Magic building, the Order of Draconis were about to make their move.

"Look, Will. That's how we're going in. If you want to wimp out, just say".

William rolled his eyes and forced his hands into his pockets of his trench coat.

"No, I am not "wimping out" as you so intelligently put it, Claire.I just think it would be more efficient if we took the roof".

While Claire and William were bickering, a tall man with long, flowing black hair stepped forward.He raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture, his cloak rippling in the wind.He spoke in a soft, but determined tone.

"Look. We won't get anywhere if we don't act now. Okay?Voldemort may or may not be already in the building, and we can't take any chances. Is that clear?"

His gaze took in Will, Claire and the rest of the team. They were all looking nervous, although they had every right to be. There were only seven members present at the mission, another three were back at the base.They had been put out of action earlier in the year by Wormtail and his thugs.

Coin, though only fifteen years old, seemed to be going on forty-five in matters of worldly experience.He was leaning against the wall, lighting a cigarette, cupping his hands around the flame, protecting it from the wind, and nodded in recognition.

Ada and Leon; sitting on a grassy knoll. Leon's vivid, red hair and blue eyes, clashing with her short, dark hair and dark eyes.Ada, with Leon's leather jacket wrapped around her shoulders, nodded.

John, slumped against a boulder, grinned; his mahogany brow wrinkling with the sheer force of the grin, gave him the thumbs up.

Finally, Will and Claire.William with his dark hair and his intelligent, icy blue gaze shook his head and smiled.Claire rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her dark brown hair.

"Well, better get on with it then," she sighed.

Without another word, the team started to make for the front of the building, the grass crunching softly beneath their feet. Will and Ada took the lead.He brought up the rear with Coin, for reasons of his own.

"In case anything…or anyone tries to ambush us," he thought.

He knew there were other innocents in the building. His main concern was young Harry Potter.If or when Voldemort did decide to show up, he would almost certainly be looking for the boy.He suddenly felt sorry for the boy.Although they had never met, Harry Potter almost certainly didn't deserve the unwelcome attention he was receiving from Voldemort.Not like himself, whose past antics with the team definitely merited all the attention they had gotten over the past couple of years.

"Although I'm looking forward to seeing Severus again," he thought to himself.

But for now, that would have to wait.He jogged after Coin, all the while relying on both his senses and reason – which was imperative to be able to see the big picture – to keep a sharp look out for potential danger.

The landscape was shrouded in thick shadows (probably due to the concealment charms which had been placed upon the building and the surrounding land, he reminded himself,) the grass a strange purplish hue, and the sky was a muggy, smoky blue-black. 

"Which would provide perfect cover for an outside attack," he realised.

Claire and Leon had done a lot a research beforehand on the building and its history, and had, consequently come up with a shitload of useful information.Therefore, the team knew most of the corridors and secret passages of the Ministry Headquarters like the back of their hands.They were subsequently heading for one of those secret passages; a sort of subterranean entrance, a little cavern if you like.Although the entrance was quite small, and it would be a tight squeeze for Johnboy. 

He could faintly sense the presence of the Death Eaters. They were in the vicinity of the building. Ever since the night of his first mission he could sense them with ease.An ever present mixture of piousness and fear.Yes. They were quite the brave, fearless warriors.

"That's what separates the rest of those shits from you, Sev.You've got guts," he smiled.

He stopped and frowned.That feeling. Closer…yes, they were somewhere in the vicinity…but closer than he had expected them to be…

To the right of him, there was a muffled "whmph" which signified that Coin had started to light up again, although he didn't hear it.

"Bastards!" he spat

He had just about a second's worth of time to see the puzzled look cross Coin's face when he broke into a run.


	2. Let the Games Begin

THE ORDER OF DRACONIS

THE ORDER OF DRACONIS

"Yoshi!" Coin yelled. "Hey. Hey! Yoshi"

He threw his dogend to the floor and started after Yoshimitsu, who was already tearing round the corner and up the gravel path.He heard a crunch, then a hot, searing flash of scarlet crackled past his ear.

He fell to the ground, rolling, hitting the gravel path hard, and grunted as the air was expelled from his lungs as he slammed into the ground.Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the curse explode in a fiery ball, embedding itself into the outer wall.

"Shit. Could've been me, could've been me…" he wheezed.

Before he could think much more, he was roughly scooped up and flung over the back of something large and solid, which was moving at breakneck speed.

"Thanks Johnboy," he breathed.

"No problem, little man," he chuckled in spite of himself and carried on sprinting.

Another explosion, further back signified that the Death Eaters were gradually losing ground.The landscape bobbed up and down as he bounced along over the back of John's huge shoulders, the gravel crunching softly under John's trained feet.

After a rather bumpy ride, he was eventually deposited in an alcove where the rest of the team were already waiting.He slumped against the damp wall, trying to get his breath back.

Leon came forward, with his sidepack at the ready.He started to pull out his equipment: bandages, ready-made slings, some kind of weird, stinking cream and…

"Frozen peas?" he sniggered.

Leon looked from Coin, to the peas, then back to Coin.He narrowed his eyes mockingly.

"Never dismiss the frozen peas," he said, in a terrible Yoda impression, " you never know when they might be useful to the force…"

"God, Coin. We were worried sick about you," Ada interrupted, " we were wondering whether the bastards had got you or not".

"It's alright, it's alright," he grunted, pushing himself up from his sitting position," I'm okay, don't sweat it. I was just winded, that's all".

"Right then, let's get moving," said Yoshi. "The entrance is down this passageway, second right, and straight down right?"

Claire and Leon nodded.

"Right then, chaps," Will said smugly, "let's kick some arse".

John and Leon looked at each other, then snorted with laughter.

"Arse?" Leon chortled.

Will looked around at the team, shoulders shaking with laughter, puzzled.

"What's wrong with arse?" he snapped.

"Will, my man. The word is ASS," John said.

The team descended a little deeper into the tunnel leading to the entrance to the Ministry of Magic Headquarters.Their footsteps gradually grew fainter as the ventured down.After a while, William's voice could be heard:

"What's wrong with saying arse?That's all you Yanks and your slang. An ass is another word for a donkey, I'll have you know! You got that word from us, you thieves!"

"SHUT UP, WILL!" they yelled.

*********************************************************************

"Those bastards.They're making their move," he sneered.

Wormtail looked around at the assembled faces of the Death Eaters, some new recruits to the Dark Lord's cadre, and others familiar faces.He strode along the ranks, deliberately pacing back and forth to supply the maximum amount of tension between the Death Eaters.

He knew that the others had managed to penetrate the walls of the East Wing without too much difficulty, and were now in the building, but the arrival of these…these rogues was already a thorn in their side.

These people were poison.He knew this, as the Lord had specifically requested that if they should "run into" them, they were to be disposed of immediately and without fail.The last thing the Lord wanted was for these reprobates to team up with Dumbledore.At the last battle, Yoshimitsu and his outlaw gang had managed to take down no less than thirty-five Death Eaters with their cowardly guerrilla tactics and stupid little traps.This, he suspected, was why the Lord was so eager to be rid of them. 

"Well…not this time my friend," he whispered, "you will be the last to die".

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**Disclaimer:**

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**I don't actually own these characters (although I sometimes with I did, but that's not the point, is it.) I have "borrowed" them from several different sources because I liked their characters; and to me, they showed an infinite amount of creative promise.**

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_Oh, and another thing…_

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**This is my first Harry Potter fic, and I worked hard on it.So review, review, review!!!Thanks.Creative criticism welcome.Flames will be accepted with good grace, then later thrown back in your face (oh I'm a poet, aren't I???)**


	3. The Plan Unfolds

THE ORDER OF DRACONIS

THE ORDER OF DRACONIS

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_Nb. This is a short chapter, but please don't give up on the story yet.There is much, much more yet to be explained._

_Thank you._

They had lost them quite a while ago, but no matter.The Lord was infinitely more concerned with the pressing matters at hand.Some fool had evidently managed to contact an outside department of the Magical Law Reinforcement, informing them of the "disturbance" at the Ministry Headquarters.

"Probably that filthy little Robin Hood and his gang of merry men," he sneered inwardly.

But no matter.The Lord had the situation under his tight control, as was always the case.He had Avery pointing his wand at the neck of Cornelius Fudge, while he dictated what he had to say to the Law Enforcement group when they finally made their appearance.

Fudge was deathly pale, his piggy little eyes bulging, frantically running from side to side and searching for a way out.His hands fidgeted and twisted under the Lord's unrelenting and unmerciful gaze.Not wanting to look, but never daring to turn away, Fudge listened tremulously as the Lord calmly dictated.

"…you will tell them that everything is fine, that it was just a false alarm.You will say that it was probably only a Ministry worker calling up for a joke.A simple prank owl, nothing more.Do you understand, Fudge?"

Fudge nodded mutely.

"Excellent," he breathed."Now you may wonder why I ask you to do all this for me.You may wonder why I choose to neglect the use of the Imperius Curse, Fudge.Do you wonder, at all?"

Fudge wiped his sweaty brow quickly and nodded his head.The Lord arose from his chair and started to circle the chair that Fudge was bound to.Nagini hissed quietly and shifted her position on the deep, blue carpet. He slowly leaned forward towards Fudge, a predatory smile crossing his thin, pale lips.Avery stirred uncomfortably in being so close to the Lord, himself.Wormtail sneered as he saw the awkward expression on Avery's face.The others started to rustle with excitement as the Lord leaned ever closer to Fudge, desperate to hear what he would say.He stopped within a hair's breadth of the Minister's ear and whispered, his voice soft and full of venom.

"I will succeed, Fudge.Do you understand me?I will not fail.As much as I doubt this, and as unlikely as it may seem, you may just have the power and ability to fight off my Imperius curse, thus alerting the rest of the wizarding world to your situation and would ultimately resort in us having to…" he paused for a moment, circling the chair like a vulture, letting the tension grow "…retreat.Now, you wouldn't want that, would you?"

Fudge blinked in horrified disbelief, rigid with fear in his chair.It seemed to satisfy the Lord, however and he swept away with a contented smile, his black robes flowing silently behind him.He turned to the window and gazed outside for a moment before whipping round and facing the others with a cold stare.

"They're coming. Get ready.Remember Fudge.One word out of line – and you WILL die".

The others took up their positions in various parts of the large room, hiding in the shadows.The Lord started towards Wormtail.He felt the Lord's gaze upon his beautiful new arm and remembered his debt to the Lord.He bowed his head in obeisance and gazed up at the Lord's pale, serpentine face from his deep cowl.

"I am ready to serve you, my Lord".

"Yes, yes.Thank you, Wormtail," he said passively."But you must take the other team and GET RID of those outlaws," he hissed viciously.

"I live to serve you, my Lord.It is done," Wormtail answered.

"Good," he breathed."Do not fail me, Wormtail."

"Yes, my Lord."

Wormtail swept soundlessly out of the room, collecting his wand and his dagger (in case of close combat situations, which would be more than likely with them involved,) and walked downstairs where Nott and his team of Death Eaters would be waiting with the hostages.

" I swear, my Lord I shall not fail you…"


	4. The Meeting

THE ORDER OF DRACONIS

THE ORDER OF DRACONIS

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_Nb. I apologise, yet again for such another short chapter.The next chapter will be dedicated to everyone who should be kind enough to review._

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_Thank you._

The Dark Mark was still burning, although not as viciously as before when it had yet again burned black.In a way, he was glad of the brand.It told him of the Lord's presence (although with it brought binding agony) and that was why they were all still alive and running through the Ministry building, undetected.They had been running for quite a while now, and when Dumbledore raised his hand in a gesture to stop, he felt relieved.As soon as the pain had manifested itself, it had been draining him of energy.He came to a halt behind Remus Lupin, his face white and filled with concern.

"You and me both," he thought, "at least Voldemort isn't after your blood".

They all gathered in a tight circle around Albus Dumbledore, waiting tensely for further instruction.Snape carefully scrutinized Dumbledore's face, as the only way you could tell his true feelings was to look at his eyes.As usual, his face showed only calm, but his eyes betrayed the anxiety dwelling within.It was showing.

"I'm afraid the situation is grave," Dumbledore announced."There is no point in hiding the severity of this case…"

"But what about Voldemort," Sirius interrupted, "how can you be so sure that he is actually here?"

Sirius cast a venomous glare in his direction.Severus knew that Black still didn't trust him at all.

"Fine with me," he thought, "I can't trust you as far as I could throw you, either.It's mutual, Black".

He decided to return the glare, with interest.

"We know, Sirius, because Severus felt the Mark burn," Dumbledore said with just a bite of impatience in his usually neutral tone."As you well know, the Mark only burns when…"

"Voldemort summons you, is close by, or is feeling particularly murderous," Harry finished off. 

They all turned to Harry in surprise.He hadn't spoken since they had all up and left half an hour ago from outside Fudge's waiting room.Harry smiled back at them all.He seemed to be amused by all of this, as if it were just another school Quidditch match, but he could see that under the façade, he was worried just like the rest of them.Dumbledore smiled back at him.The sight of Harry not breaking down into a nervous wreck seemed to give the old man a new strength. 

"Right. Here's what we'll have to do.I'll take Harry and Sirius," he looked at Snape, his blue eyes sharp and alert, then at Sirius, "because I can't trust you two to work together civily.Minerva, Severus and Remus, you work together.Find any traps and remove them, as we'll need safe passage through the building if…" he paused, "…if we need to escape quickly."

"Ahh. So that's the plan," he thought."Dump Black and the Boy somewhere safe, get rid of all the traps in our escape route and get out as soon as possible".

"Does everyone understand?" asked Dumbledore.

Everyone nodded in agreement. 

"Good luck".

He watched apprehensively as Dumbledore left silently with Harry and Sirius.Once they had rounded the corner and were out of sight, the three continued their descent further into the bowels of the Ministry.

They walked without another word for some time, Minerva in front, Lupin coming behind her and himself at the back, checking behind doors for danger or loose Ministry workers.After a while, Minerva stopped abruptly and motioned them both to come forward.

"I think I heard…"

Whatever Minerva was about to say was abruptly cut short by a soft clatter and a thud.As one, they all reached for their wands.The corridor ahead was pitch black, as was the corridor behind.All the torches had been extinguished and the little light there was, was borrowed light from the moon outside.The Death Eaters must've come up from underground.

"Shit," he thought, "they've found us already".

He tried to maintain a cool composure, but his voice wavered slightly as he spoke.

"Clever of them," he sneered, "but not their style".

"No.You're right, Severus," Lupin whispered behind him, "they usually barge in, wands blazing".

"Yes. They're being more careful this time," Minerva muttered, "I expect they don't want to botch this mission".

The shuffling stopped.There was a quiet scraping noise, as if metal were being dragged along the floor, then a clunk as something fell into place.The tension so palpable he could taste it.Then there was silence.

Minerva slowly approached the corner of the corridor, her footsteps padding across the marble floor, and looked around carefully.He watched in apprehension as she inspected the lengthy corridor ahead.For a few seconds, which felt like an eternity, he didn't dare breathe.Then, she turned back round and motioned for them to come forward.

He started to follow Remus down the passageway, but shadow moving quickly forced him to the ground.He yelled as something slammed hard into his ribcage and he rolled over, lashing out wildly into the darkness.He felt his fist connect satisfactorily with something, accompanied by a grunt of pain.

"Yes…"

He heard more footsteps sprinting down the corridor, Minerva and Remus, or someone else.He used the moment of weakness to push himself from the ground.He staggered away and reached for his wand, his hand grasping the pleasantly cool, smooth wood, wrenching it from his robes.He swiftly raised his wand, knowing that the attacker would surely be up on his feet again.The incantations were already forming in his head before they arrived at his lips.

"STUPEFY !!!" he yelled.

"STUPEFY !!!" another unknown voice cried from the distance.

He dived for the ground as the curse streaked past him, hitting the wall opposite and whipping his hair up with the backdraft…and his world exploded with pain.His groin felt as though it were on fire…

"Fuck you," he managed to gasp, "I will not give in to you".

"Severus?" a worried voice exclaimed.

The voice struck a chord in his memory.A voice he knew and remembered only too well…

"Yoshi?"

**Disclaimer: As before. None of the characters portrayed belong to me, although the plot does.I have borrowed some of the characters because, to me, they showed an infinite amount of creative promise.As before, I have worked hard on this fic. So be a responsible reader and review, review, review.Creative criticism more than welcome.Flames will be laughed at.Aha. ****K**


	5. Of Recollections and Re-Collections

The Order of Draconis

The Order of Draconis

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The two men stared, unblinkingly, into each other's eyes for a heartbeat.Nothing was said, and they both remained as still as statues, one holding the other trapped underneath in a tight hold.Snape could feel his weight pinning him to the cold floor, still rendering him motionless as if in case he should strike out again.His vivid, green eyes were wide and alert, and from what he could see, he was breathing rather heavily.Severus was also aware that his body was still under the affects of the adrenaline surge he had felt only moments ago, and that he, too was still staring into Yoshimitsu's eyes from the floor where he had fallen, not wanting to move.

Yoshi stirred slightly, as if trying to gather the courage to speak to him and shifted under his unrelenting gaze.He spoke, but it was nothing short of a whisper.Mild and soft, but always heard and taken heed of.

"Rather like mine, I suppose," he thought to himself.

"Sev?" Yoshi whispered hoarsely, releasing a little of pressure from the grip around his shoulders.

"…heh heh heh".

He heard some sniggering and muffled snorting - possibly originating a few paces away from where they had fought blindly with one another in the dark – and could possibly originate from…

"Oh Sevvie, my darling!I've missed you for so long…" a low voice rumbled in the darkness.

"Oh yes!Sevvie, will you marry me?" another smooth voice smirked from the shadows.

"OH YES, YES!KISS ME YOSHI!" the first voice cried with laughter.

"Those bastards," he mouthed, as he realised who the disembodied voices belonged to.

He knew those stupid, snorting, sniggering idiots anywhere.It was John and Will.But, if they were here with him, then the rest of the team must be here too…

"He's brought the team along with him?He must've known that Voldemort would turn up here.He must know of Voldemort's takeover, or how else would they all be here?" he wondered.

Out of the corner of his eyes he spotted Minerva and Remus.They were frozen to the spot a couple of yards away, standing stock-still and speechless, Remus still holding his wand in the combative position, and he didn't seem ready to fight anyone.

But the realisation came crashing down on him, hard and he had suddenly become all too aware of the rather…suggestive…position that they had been lying in for the past minute and he quickly pulled his legs out from underneath, scrabbled backwards - slipping slightly on the floor - and pushed himself up.Yoshi too had become aware and had jumped back from him as if had suddenly become red-hot, and had stumbled to his feet.

When he was on his feet, Snape gazed at his surroundings.He could see in the white marble floor, masked with the shadows that the misty blackness outside had brought, was a hidden trapdoor, concealed by a beautiful, icy-white ornamental rug, presumably where…Yoshi and the others had come up into the building.He felt himself smile suddenly, evilly, grinning widely as he realised.

"Nice plan, Yoshi," he said to the wall, "Do it the Muggle way.Come up from underground.The roof, the windows; just don't use any spells or incantations.They'd never be able to track you down," he paused, "Voldemort – or the Ministry".

He looked at Yoshi, still grinning.His footsteps echoed down the vast, lofty corridor as he walked towards Yoshi.Yoshi ran a hand through his long, black hair, shook his head and looked exasperatedly at him.

"You've hit the metaphorical nail on the head, Sev, as always," he sighed."Leave it to you to figure out ALL of my plans before we even have the chance to carry them out".

Yoshi padded towards him, smiling, his trained feet gliding silently over the floor.He stopped short in front of him and rested a gloved hand on his shoulders.Although this time, it was his turn to grin evilly.

"But you've missed one little detail though, Sev," he explained enigmatically."What do you think is missing?"

Yoshi suddenly sat down on an oak chair - which probably constructed part of a crude waiting room for a lesser Ministry official - and leaned his head against his hand, smiling up expectedly at him.

He could feel his eyes narrowing as Yoshi spoke to him and the more he felt his eyes narrowing, the more Yoshi grinned.He looked round at Will and John for some sort of help, but Will just blinked slowly and smiled, leaned back against the wall and folded his arms.John grinned and shrugged his massive shoulders and shook his head.

"My lips are sealed, Sev," John rumbled with as much mystery as he could muster.

He spun back round to face Yoshi – still in the mocking: "I-know-something-you-don't-know" position he had left him in.He smiled back at Yoshi.He knew that he was in his element here, and that he had a chance.He always won at guessing games.

"Fine.You want to play guessing games, Yoshi.You know I ALWAYS win at guessing games," he smirked.

Yoshi blinked passively.

"We'll see, Sevvie.We'll see."

Severus glared at Yoshi.It was not really appropriate to do this at the moment, and he knew that Yoshi knew that Voldemort was in the building with goodness knows how many other Death Eaters.Why on Earth was he doing this?He didn't know why he rose to Yoshi's bait.He didn't know what compelled him to do it.There was something about Yoshi's smug look that maddened him to the core.So he sat down in the chair next to Yoshi and tried to cast his mind back.Back to when they had met in the Forbidden Forest all those years ago.

***********************************************************************************************

He realised that he was glaring at them.

The cold, biting, winter wind knifed into him.It even whipped up his thick, black; winter robes - occasionally, exposing him to an unwelcome icy gust.His long, thin fingers were becoming blue with the cold, yet he continued to pull mechanically at the roots of the plants, his fingers scraping through the frost-hardened dirt.He was long past caring.All he wanted to do, was to end the short, yet happy lives of these little plants.

"They just…grow," he thought bitterly, "they don't experience true pain.They take their nourishment from the Earth and it's products, they grow, they reproduce, they die".He smiled suddenly, a smile totally without humour that did not reach his cold, dark eyes, "The only pain is at the end…"

He tugged sharply at another root, slicing his finger.He watched in a rather detached sort of way as the blood ran smooth, dark and rich – dribbling onto the ground, spattering softly on the dirt.It was quite a deep cut.Surprising, in a way.The little plant had managed to return the favour – well at least some of the pain.But it was in vain.

"It was a brave effort, little plant," he sneered."But I'm afraid that I'm quite used to pain."He sighed deeply."You could almost say that over the long years, I have built up an immunity to it".

He threw the carcass of the aconite plant into his basket, along with all of the others he had uprooted earlier, and performed a rather elementary healing charm.He watched as the wound slowly closed up, the white lips of skin at the edge of the wound closing, merging together as one.

After a while, he carried on rooting.He had run out of the plant in his storage, and was lucky enough to have a sufficient, natural supply in the Forbidden Forest itself.Earlier in the day, he had gained permission from Dumbledore to go out into the forest and Dumbledore had asked politely if he wished Hagrid and Fang to accompany him.He had declined.He didn't wish that great oaf Hagrid and that huge, hairy, slobbering, mongrel anywhere near him - especially when he was going to do such a careful job as uprooting aconite.He could just imagine Hagrid accidentally trampling on them, or Fang digging them all up, ripping them to shreds and rendering them useless.So he came out alone, as he always did.

The forest was always beautiful in winter – cold and unmerciful – but beautiful nonetheless.The snow clinging delicately to the branches of the trees, the frost making pretty little patterns on the ground and the sky a clear bright blue, with no clouds in sight.But the forest would bloom again.That was certain.Underneath the frosty layers above, there, lying deep beneath the surface, the beauty was waiting to burst forth once more - and in time, would do so.

The beauty of nature was something that had always astounded him. 

Back as early as he could remember, he was outside studying plants and animals, taking in their habits and contours and watching them with intense interest, noting their little ways, watched them foraging for food.

When he was a little older and able to read, his mother had gradually introduced him to books on the dark arts and potion making.He had taken to them like a fish to water, reading and studying, taking in knowledge.Suddenly, he started to enjoy this new-found property of nature and was soon brewing potions that were extremely advanced for his age group.As he later found out when he went to Hogwarts, most of the other children didn't even know how to brew a simple memory-loss potion, never mind some of the more complicated potions he had been brewing at home.He also – thanks to his mother - arrived at Hogwarts knowing more curses and hexes than half of the third years, and could certainly hold his own in a duel - thanks to the abusive training his father had subjected him to at home. 

He had suffered and suffered at home with his family, beaten and abused by his Death Eater father, screamed at, then ignored by his Death Eater mother, staying silent all the while, bottling up the pain and agony like he bottled up all his wonderful potions. 

He had suffered more still in all his years at Hogwarts, starting his gradual descending the slippery slopes to damnation; taunted by James Potter and his sidekicks, losing the only friend he truly loved to hold dear, Lilly, and his Slytherin gang - overcome with hatred and ambition - were no shoulder to cry on.He had hexed, brewed and studied his way through Hogwarts, gained twelve OWL's, was the representative of Slytherin house…

"..and all for what," he sneered, unconsciously tearing apart the little aconite growth he had just so fastidiously uprooted, the liquid bleeding from the now torn and bruised leaves, running, squeezing through the gaps in his tightly clenched fists – all the energy and life extracted – and it would never be able to bloom again. 

His body was shaking, shaking with the force of the silent, tearless sobbing – his mind filled with a hatred, the slow burning hatred that had been festering inside since he could remember, a hatred for his whole, ruined life and everything that he had ever stood for – everything he had ever believed in.His fists clenched tighter still, his nails ripping into the tender flesh of the palms of his hands, drawing yet more blood – the plant now limp in his unrelenting grip.

His body was now shaking violently, his robes sodden and bedraggled, on his knees in the snow.He was breathing heavily, the coldness of the air turning his breath into a visible, misty vapour.The hate rose in a surging wave, coming up rapidly - and all alone in the forest, he was powerless to stop it.He raised his head and screamed to the sky, a lament wracked with raw emotion, the cry filled with agony echoing through the trees- but lost.

"All for what !?!To waste my whole fucking life for a lost cause!?!" he screamed.

He turned his face to the sky and could feel the tears welling up behind his dark eyes – the tears he had held in for god only knew how long.Slowly, silently - they began to trickle down his frostbitten cheeks in a slow smooth stream, tears as futile as his miserable existence.The anger slowly burned itself out again, his senses returning gradually – but his dignity shattered once again.

"Forgive me…" 

For a long time – he didn't know how long – he stayed slumped on the frosty earth, his previous task all but forgotten, feeling his silent tears freezing on his cheeks in the icy winter wind, the snow penetrating his robes, soaking him to the skin – the cold making him shake uncontrollably…

Crack.

His head snapped up suddenly, roughly near the origin of the noise.He stayed still, frozen to the spot, his heart thumping loudly in his chest, not daring to move or breathe in case he alerted the intruder to his position.

"Can't be a Centaur," he reasoned, "can't climb trees…"

He looked a little closer and saw that the branches of a large pine tree about a foot away from him were swaying… a little more than the slight breeze would've caused them to…

Crack.

Breathing deeply, his chest rising and falling quickly, he reached carefully for his wand inside his robes.He grasped it with his numb fingers and started to sidle towards the pine tree with all the stealth he could muster - all the while keeping his eyes on the branches of the tree, checking for any further signs of movement. 

Crack.

Just before he reached the trunk of the frost covered pine, he stopped and crouched down onto the ground, tilting his head sideways in case he could get a glance of the intruder…

Crack. Crack, crack…

His heart leapt into his mouth as he realised that the intruder was descending the branches of the tree. Extremely quickly.

"OH FUUUUUUUUUCK!!!"

He tried to raise his wand, but there was a swiftly growing shadow bearing down on him at a great speed, and there would only be half a second before it…

***********************************************************************************************

He woke up a few minutes later - feeling nauseous, his eyes bleary and his limbs numb with cold.These weren't new, he decided.But the thumping, splitting headache was novel.He made a valiant attempt to move his legs…but they didn't seem to be co-operating at the moment.His arms were aching, his head was spinning, he was on the verge of throwing up and…something, or someone had fallen on top of him from the branches of that tree…

With that unsettling thought in mind, he made another attempt to push himself up, when suddenly, a face leered down at him, fiery, glowing red eyes burning in the porcelain-white face, large fangs protruding from its upper lip.He could feel it's hot breath from close range against his frozen skin and its hands outstretched - waiting to finish him off…

His body received a new surge of energy, his numb limbs making a last ditch effort to carry him away from the demonic apparition

"Argh !!!Get away from me !!!" he screamed hoarsely.

The demon made no visible attempt to move, or to finish him off. Instead it took a step back, startled.

"Oh! God, I'm sorry.I didn't mean to alarm you," the ember-eyed demon said softly."Here…"

The apparition raised his hands to his face, removing…removing its mask with a slight sucking noise as it came free from its face.He suddenly realised (with waves of embarrassment accompanying it,) what he had been trying to run from.Before him stood not the fiery-eyed demon – but a handsome young man, much the same age as himself.He was dressed in a heavy cloak and strange clothes not native of the country, but rather Eastern…Oriental, even.His long, raven black hair fluttered in the bitter breeze, his eyes a sharp, vivid green and flecked with brown were filled with quiet concern.A sheepish smile settled on his pale visage – almost as white, he noted – as his porcelain mask…

"I'm terribly sorry.I'm afraid I fell on your head…" he pointed over to the pine tree, where there were considerably fewer branches and the snow had now been shaken off.The stranger spoke with a slight accent, sometimes muddling his syllables slightly.He was now convinced that the stranger was foreign.

"…but I dressed your wounds for you.Your hands were ripped to shreds".

Severus, again aware that he had a pair of hands, brought them up swiftly to his face, staring at them.The stranger had, indeed, dressed his wounds.And quite well too.There were neatly wrapped, white linen, bandages covering the lacerations on the palms of his hands.He turned his gaze back to the stranger, dumbfounded.

"It's okay, you just sit there and rest.I'll take you back to the den and then I can fix you up properly," the stranger insisted.

Snape forced himself to speak, the words coming from his mouth in a croaking whisper.

"W-who are you?" 

The stranger smiled warmly and knelt down in the snow next to him, removing the cloak from his shoulders and wrapping it tightly around his frozen body.He hadn't realised how cold he was until he felt the soothing warmth of the cloak shielding him from the icy breath of the wind.He felt the stranger's arms scoop him up out of the snow, lifting him as if he weighed no more than a feather and he stood up upright on the ground.He rose shakily to his feet, steadily regaining his balance, the stranger supporting him with his arm wrapped around his shoulders.

"Are you okay?Can you walk?"

Severus mumbled in acknowledgement.The stranger stretched out his hand and smiled.

"I'm Yoshimitsu - but please spare the formalities, and just call me Yoshi".

He shook the stranger's hand numbly.

"'m Snape. Severus Snape".

The stranger smiled more broadly still and they started on their way to… "the den".

"Pleased to meet you Severus.Now you just concentrate on keeping walking, and we'll be there in no time," the stranger soothed.

"'s," was his feeble reply.

They carried on the rest of the journey in silence, Yoshimitsu's nimble feet crunching lightly over the snow - and his own, more sluggish footsteps trudging irregularly beside him.The journey was a blur.His surroundings slipped slowly past his eyes as he concentrated on keeping upright.He felt rather inclined to throw up, but done his best to relieve Yoshi of the obligation.After a while, Yoshi slowed his walk down to a stop in front of a severe looking rock face, and turned round to face him, beaming.

"Well, here we are.Just hang on one more minute, okay".

He didn't think that he could take much more of this.A den…hideout… in the middle of the Forbidden Forest !?!Why hadn't Hagrid spotted it and alerted Dumbledore !?!He realised a moment later, that Hagrid certainly wouldn't have spotted it, and probably couldn't find it even if knew it existed.

Yoshimitsu wedged him between a boulder and the frozen rock face, and drew – seemingly from nowhere -a long, beautiful and not to mention sharp looking sword.The blade itself was incredibly unusual.It was as clear as day, reflecting the forest behind, but was a stunningly beautiful navy blue-black.It looked to him as though it was made from black coloured glass.He gaped at the sword, his jaw hung open.Yoshi had possibly seen him leering at his sword, for he flashed him a wolfish smile and ran his finger down the blade, causing little blue sparks to crackle down the length.

"Do you like it?" Yoshi asked."My father left it to me when he died".He swung the sword in a diagonal arc from right to left, making the blade spark and sing through the air.

"Is it a magical sword," Snape asked stupidly.

Yoshi looked at him as though he had gone mad.

"The cold must've fucked with your brain," he laughed, "of course it's a magical sword!Ever seen a normal sword do this?"

Severus watched expectantly as Yoshimitsu raised the blade above his head.For a heartbeat, nothing stirred.The silence was a vacuum, seeming to suck into it everything near.Then, slowly, the air around the blade began to blur and distort.He felt the wind gather strength and speed.He saw the air matter re-arrange into small white-blue particles of elemental energy, speeding round the blade, which was now glowing white hot in Yoshimitsu's hands.But he didn't show any signs of feeling it – he seemed to be in a trance, the particles gathering more speed still, whipping up his hair and clothes, carrying him upwards – levitating - encased in a blue burning orb, emitting raw waves of pure elemental energy…and he opened his eyes.

His eyes, once the colour of deep, creamy jade; were now burning white.Pure, blinding white light.Severus watched in horrified fascination as Yoshimitsu swung the blade downward in a deadly arc, dispelling all of the energy gathered en masse, and saw it head towards the rock face, tearing away from the burning blade in a flash of white.He watched, his heart pounding as the light hit the rock, expecting it to explode in a thousand fragments of molten shrapnel, killing them both - Yoshi and himself instantly…

…Instead, the rock disappeared, revealing a small hole - just big enough for one to crawl through…

He heard Yoshi drop to the earth behind him, dusting himself off as if he had only just taken out the rubbish. Yoshi skipped over to him - grinning again the wolfish grin, his green eyes flashing with delight – and laid a hand on his shoulder. 

He turned to face Yoshi.He stared.He gaped.He had just witnessed him banish a huge, great, hulking piece of rock in front of his very eyes, which would've probably taken the best part of a month to do with a team of fully trained wizards working on it.

"Y-you banished the…"

Yoshi nodded, trying to suppress a smirk, and led him towards the hole.

"You first, Severus," he said graciously.

***********************************************************************************************

He sat bolt upright in the chair.The realisation had dawned on him as soon as he started to recollect the experience, the aconite, the mysterious rustling in the pine tree, being knocked unconscious by a total stranger hurtling from said pine tree and landing on his head and…the katana.

The team had long since moved from the den in the Forbidden Forest, and were now living in Mastrick, Aberdeen in a little house in a densely Muggle-populated area.About two years before the fall of the Dark Lord, the Ministry came to the Forbidden Forest to arrest the members of the Order of Draconis.Bartemius Crouch himself had stormed into Hogwarts, accusing Dumbledore of hiding the Order from the Ministry. 

Dumbledore had had no idea that they were even anywhere near Hogwarts, let alone in the same country, and calmly told Crouch so.In truth, Dumbledore had known that there were other organisations fighting for the downfall of Voldemort, but he had never met up with any – on missions or otherwise.

Crouch curtly explained to Dumbledore that they had found their "base of operations" and intended to cut them short immediately because they had: "interfered with Ministry business".A moment later, a young ministry worker knocked on the door of Dumbledore's study and had entered carrying Yoshimitsu's katana wrapped in spell-proof material.

Severus had watched in horrified silence as Crouch had told Dumbledore of what was to be the fate of his friends, but when the young Ministry agent strode in with Yoshi's sword, he fought back an uncontrollable urge to beat the living shit out of both Crouch and the Gopher.The Gopher had informed Crouch that the Order had escaped.In his words: "…vanished sir…just vanished. Without a trace…"

After the "bad news", Crouch had stormed out in an utterly foul mood, his neatly combed moustache bristling as he muttered some dark threats towards Dumbledore.Dumbledore had merely smiled and showed him graciously out of his office, the Gopher trailing at Crouch's heels, still holding Yoshi's beloved sword tightly in his arms.

After the rather dramatic episode involving Crouch and the Ministry law enforcement blew over, Severus led Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall towards their hideout.The place had been totally ransacked.Possessions strewn over the ground, spell books, potions ingredients (some of which he had picked for them himself) amongst other things. 

Dumbledore had taken him aside and asked him if he knew anything of the Order of Draconis.At first he had shook his head, not wanting to divulge the information he had kept for Yoshi and the others for so long, but after a while, he broke down and told them everything.How they had met up, who they all were, about their pasts, missions accomplished, missions failed, about how he also sometimes shared with them, the inside information he gained from Voldemort.Dumbledore had listened calmly to him, his eyes glittering strangely, smiling as he had told him every detail.Minerva had sat on a log across from them, dumbstruck, wondering all the time how she could've missed them.He could tell that Dumbledore was thinking along the same lines -but he was also fascinated.He had asked him question after question about the team and he had found out that some of them had even attended Hogwarts and that Will had actually been in Slytherin house.Dumbledore had told him not to worry, and that he would work together with Minerva to help track them down.

For a few months there had been nothing.No traces or signs that they had ever existed, except for the few saved possessions gathered from the forest - hidden safely away from the eyes of outsiders in Dumbledore's study.They were all becoming anxious, and Crouch was still pestering them about the Order and his Gopher – to his ultimate disgust – had been promoted to the rank of Auror for the theft of his friend's beloved katana.

He had waited, and prayed for their safe return, or at least any news at to their whereabouts. 

The letter that he had so anxiously waited for - had came about four months after their escape from the Forbidden Forest.One day, the owl had arrived at the staff table in the great hall, fluttering down, bearing a wet, bedraggled looking letter tied untidily around it's leg, bearing the news he had been waiting for, for so long.

It had said:

Hello Sarky.

_ _

How's life been keeping you?Good, I trust?Still keeping the brats out of trouble?

Good, good.We got your letter.I'm sorry about the hasty retreat, as we didn't want to outstay 

ourwelcome, but no matter.You've told the high heid yin' (Glaswegian slang, eh ? I love it) about us then. Don't worry, as it's about time anyway and we're rather glad you did.It just means that there are more of us, working together for a just cause, no? 

_ _

_Migraine, Carrot, Whiner, Methane and Bitch-face send their regards._

_ _

_Love,the Tin Man._

_ _

_P.S: You don't have any information on regards to my little piece of stolen property, do you ?_

_ _

_ _

He had written back at once, informing Yoshi (aka the Tin Man) about how Crouch had taken his katana back to the Ministry with him and how he had probably locked it up, locked it up again, put it in a room filled to the brim with alarm charms, traps and rabid dogs, locked it up again just for good measure and had assigned fifty large, surly looking, wand-happy guards to watch over it.

Yoshi had wrote back later saying that he would do whatever it took to get back his beloved katana and to have it where it rightfully belonged.

And he was coming tonight to collect it…

***********************************************************************************************

He smiled in spite of himself, feeling strangely proud for working out Yoshi's ruse.He turned to face Yoshi, who was still sitting with his head propped up with his hand, staring expectantly at him.He could feel the grin crossing his face once again, but managed to suppress it, slipping on his trademark smirk instead.

"You're coming to collect it ? Aren't you ?" 

Yoshi, smile still in place nodded.

"I think that this is that "right time" you were speaking of Sev," he whispered softly.

"So," he sneered inwardly, "they're not here to help after all.Only to collect Yoshi's precious sword…"

He felt the all too common sense of disappointment penetrate to the core.He gazed coldly at Yoshi, the disappointment shifting, slowly, gradually changing to a state of fury and indignation.It wasn't possible…

"Is this all you're here for !?!" he asked in disbelief. "Do you know that Voldemort is in the building AT THIS VERY MOMENT !!!" 

Yoshi's eyes flashed for a moment, and he glared stonily back at Severus, who matched his glare for glare.

"Yes.Of course I know that Voldemort is here," he snapped."Why else would I need my katana, Severus?"

The realisation hit him once again. Only now, could he see the full picture.Yoshi could pull off two birds with one stone with this one.He had the perfect chance to get back his katana AND to win this battle against Voldemort and weaken him considerably."

"Although it's going to take a lot of effort and cunning to accomplish it…"

He stared, amazedly at Yoshi.Yoshi's cold glare was replaced by the wolfish smile.

"Two birds with one stone, Yoshi ?" he said exasperatedly

"Yes, Sev.Two birds," he grinned.

Will and John both beamed at him almost simultaneously and John ran towards him, locking him in a tight bear hug, his long dreadlocks becoming entangled with his face, making him gasp and splutter.

"MAN, I MISSED YOU, SARKY !!!" John howled

"I-I missed you too, Methane," he managed to mumble into John's shoulder-blade, "but put me down !!!"

He felt relieved when John deposited him back on the floor, still mumbling about how much he had missed him when he was gone and how there was no one who could ever be as sarky as the sarky git himself.

Will merely smiled and hugged him, saying that John was just being overemotional as always, which inevitably ended in John slapping William across the head and Will retaliating by pulling at John's goatee.John howled and jumped on William and proceeded to trap him in a painful looking headlock.

He smirked at Will and John's antics; seeing Will choking, spluttering and stumbling across the floor - his perfectly groomed black hair becoming tangled and untidy in the headlock. John, on the other hand, seemed to revel seeing Will in pain. 

"Who's yo daddy, Migrane ??? WHO'S YO DADDY !?!" John roared, chuckling as he threw Will halfway across the corridor, ramming into chairs and generally causing havoc.

Yoshi rose from the chair, laughing, dusting off his trousers and readjusting his belt.He spied Minerva and Remus still standing a few paces away, bewildered and amazed by the sudden and unlikely even they had just witnessed.He stalked over to them and extended his hand to both of them.

"Yoshimitsu Manji," he intoned cheerfully, his painstakingly acquired English accent slipping as he introduced himself, "you must be Minerva McGonagall…"

Minerva took his hand and her face instantly broke into a huge smile as she eventually realised who he was.After a few quick words with Minerva, Yoshi turned to Remus (who had just been greeted politely by Will – and slapped heartily on the back by John,) and shook his hand.

"Remus Lupin, I presume," 

"Yoshimitsu Manji, I presume," Lupin retorted.

He could see that the Werewolf was gradually warming to Yoshi.Not that he really cared, as they would need all the help they could get if they wanted to be in with a chance of coming out of this alive.

Yoshi beamed at Lupin's retort and turned back to Severus.He leaned a little closer and whispered to him.

"The Misuse of Muggle Artefacts containment storage rooms are the next floor up," he explained, "are you guys coming with us ?Because you don't stand a chance out here – not with all these Death Eaters kicking about".

He looked over his shoulder to find the others whispering quietly and looking expectantly back at them.

"All right.But you'd better be the one to ask them, remember I'm still the "Death Eater".

"Sure," Yoshi sighed exasperatedly, and cuffed him playfully on the shoulder "I'll ask them".

He watched, rubbing his aching shoulder where the bastard had punched him, as Yoshi approached Minerva and Remus, whispering and gesticulating in the all-consuming darkness of the corridor.After a while, he saw Minerva nod her head.

"That's a good sign," he thought nervously.

Then, a moment later, Lupin nodded solemnly and started to walk towards Will and John, who were already working on some unknown task involving a rather large wooden door.

Yoshi spun on his heel and skipped back towards him, his hair flying out behind and his eyes twinkling.He yelled as Yoshi grabbed him by the shoulders and swung him round violently, the force of the swing making him stumble on the marble floor.

"They said yes.Now let's get going," he laughed.

***********************************************************************************************

Disclaimer:I don't own any of the characters blah, blah, bloody blah.I own the plot tho', so y'all'd better watch your asses if any foo' tries to pilfer my plot, y'hear ?

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed my fic so far.I have worked very hard on it, and have tried to improve and better the previous at every turn.

Thanks goes to: 

Edgar da Cockroach

Afshan Mirza (It's funny?Thanks. I never really thought that, but I do try to put in a little humour here and there – John being the plucky comic relief.)

Chopsy Cow (heh…)

Vikki_bubble (Thank you for your wonderful comment, but I'm really not that good. Go to my profile and read the stories of my favourite authors, then you'll see who is good.)

PINN

Morrighan (thank you for your helpful creative criticism.I have taken your advice in mind and tried to put in some more background and description.You will notice that this chapter is a bit longer than the others.(But no flies on you, Jeez.Your suspicions about Yoshi are confirmed.)

Selene:Thank you for the kind review.Yes, I agree.All the "Harry is a hero" stories are getting on my thruppney bits.Just kidding…*ducks flaming bricks*.In answer to your question, alright, I'll tell you:Yoshimitsu was taken from (the utterly brilliant) Tekken, Coin was borrowed from Terry Pratchett's wonderful, and funny Sourcery and William, Ada, Leon, Claire and John were characters taken from various Resident Evil shit.*Damn !!! I've just blown my secret…* 

Thank you all once again for showing your appreciation of my hard work and effort. I write now for you all. : )

Ada Kensington


	6. Risky Business

The Order of Draconis

The Order of Draconis

_ _

Chapter Six:Risky Business

** **

** **

Yoshi had taken the lead.The corridors leading down to the storage section of the Ministry Headquarters were becoming increasingly bleak and forbidding – the extravagant décor of the floors of the upper corridors now seemed like a distant memory compared to the bare stone walls and cold tiled surfaces of their current position.The high ceilings shrouded in shadows and the sharp, dark corners seemed to hide still more danger - which only served to make his demeanour worse.Twice, he had snapped at Remus Lupin for making more noise than was considered strictly necessary, even though he himself admitted later that Lupin had done nothing wrong.

_I'm getting paranoid already, aren't I…?_

_ _

The mere presence of the Dark Lord always made him like this.It always had done, right from the start.It put him on alert, 

put him on his guard and with it unleashed the hideous paranoia that made him shudder and his skin crawl with fear.The Dark Lord could crush him like the traitorous parasite that he was.

_If I'm lucky…_

_ _

Yes. Knowing the things he had done, the Dark Lord would be nowhere near as lenient.

He was truly the typical Slytherin in more ways than one – including some of the worse qualities you could reserve for that particular house.When he was afraid – he got angry.When he got angry – the object of his anger usually came off the worse for wear from a bout of well-placed hexes.That quality alone had gotten him into quite a lot of trouble in his days at Hogwarts, and even more precarious situations in his days as a Death Eater…

A clatter from behind snapped him out of his torpor. He whipped around - ready to unleash some of that pent-up fear – and faced Remus Lupin,who winced slightly under his cold glare…

"Lupin, if you are unable to keep your hands and arms to yourself, I think…"

But he was cut off mid-reprimand by a suffocating glare from Minerva McGonagall, who had been following behind Remus Lupin.Minerva looked about ready to start on him, and he readied himself for another bickering match with the Head of Gryffindor house, when he felt a hand rest upon his shoulder and a soft whisper in his ear.

"We're here.No arguing, Snape.We're going in on all fours, you know – invisible table style?Coin and the others are taking the vents.Four vents stationed at the four compass points of the room – you're with me - and John and Will are standing guard.Stunning charms for this one because we're going to take them alive for questioning later.Show no mercy.Oh, by the way, you wouldn't have any Veritaserum on hand, would you, Sev?"

_What!?This is too much…_

_ _

"Yoshi, I…"

"Do you have the Veritaserum?" 

"Y-yes, I keep some on hand, but…"

"Good," he said brightly."Then we've got nothing to worry about, right?"

_Christ, what am I getting myself into…?_

_ _

"Right," he sighed resignedly, pinching the bridge of his nose lightly in exasperation.

"Good"."Oh, and," Yoshi added with a wolfish grin, " get down on your knees and crawl, bitch".

_Cheeky git…_

"Don't push it," he snapped hotly as he started to crawl stealthily on all fours towards the bolted dread-portal door where his friend's stolen property was being held.

Yoshi merely grinned and whispered a few last words to the others before reciting the proper incantations to open the door.It opened noiselessly – sliding back slickly on it's well oiled hinges – which was a blessing in disguise, as he could hear the distant voices of his old companions and see the flickering torchlight which illuminated the dusty storeroom, and cast an eerie green light over the whole scene – rendering it quite unearthly".

_This is not the time for paranoia - this is the real thing.Don't back out now, Snape…_

"Ready?" Yoshi's voice seemed to come from a long way off – as if he were speaking from via a tin can.Severus merely managed a short nod in acknowledgement, intent on trying to keep his composure.

"Good".

*****************************************************

_ _

The outside officials had come, Fudge had acted superbly, there was no interference and everything was going _wonderfully _according to the Lord's plan.But why he had sent them down here to the stores was still a mystery.The place was freezing, and he had gotten dirt all over his new Malkin designer robes – not to mention having to baby-sit some of the "new recruits".The said recruits were standing shivering in a corner, looking as if they would wet themselves as if he so much looked their way.He smirked inwardly.Well, that was the way it was supposed to be – after all, the Malfoys had been dealing in the Dark Arts for centuries now.His family were born to be respected and feared.

Now elated in his thoughts of obscene power, he stood up from where he had been sitting for the past couple of minutes and dusted his silken black robes fastidiously – making one of the babies flinch uncomfortably.

_I should be taking some charge here…_

_ _

He started to bark out another order so as the babies could make themselves useful. 

Then the room was plunged into darkness.

_What…!?_

_ _

A suffocating panic grasped at his insides, choking him.He tried to shout out another order, but it came out as a feeble splutter – soundless.The next moment, rapid footsteps coming from all directions pounded across the flagstone floor (surely not).But as if in answer to his silent enquiry, a stunning curse seared past the side of his face – boiling heat whipping up tendrils of his icy hair – crackling and spitting ferociously.In an instant, his coward's instinct kicked in - and he turned to run, but tripped clumsily over an unseen obstacle – hitting the hard floor – hearing the muffled yells of other unfortunates being brought down – the sharp pain and the sense of breathlessness from the fall – the obstacle, not inanimate, but to his horror, alive - grabbed for him roughly, shaking him to the ground…

_…come on…_

_ _

…he kicked out, and felt himself somehow break away from the merciless grip of the attacker – running blindly in the all-consuming darkness - breaking away from all the shouts and screams – the curses flying thick and fast – the pain in his side unrelenting…

_…yes…_

_ _

He had reached the door of the room, seeking an end to the chaos.He had to call on the Lord.He felt the surface of the door cool to the touch and pulled it back as roughly as he could manage, running all the way…into another unseen obstacle.

_No…_

A large pair of hands grabbed him wildly, quenching his hope of escape.He felt the huge arms clench tightly against his neck, pulling him ever closer – he could feel the stranger's hot breath against his cool, sweaty skin and the stubble rasping against his smooth face.The stranger's voice was low and menacing and came out in a familiar, throaty rasp…

"Whazzup, Malfoy?"

And the world before him was snuffed in an instant.

**************************************************************

"You know, the invisible table trick is probably my favourite indoor strategy," Willam stood musing.

"Yeah, it's so simple it's scary," agreed Leon.

"So what's your favourite outdoor strategy then ?" Lupin asked conversationally.Seeming quite a bit more friendly towards the others now that he had seen them in action.

"Landmines," William grinned evilly."You can't track them down, like spells.They never know what hits them…"

"KABOOM !!!" Leon gesticulated dramatically.

There was a short burst of laughter accompanying Leon's comment.That was fine with him – they all needed to unwind a little – get rid of the adrenaline rush that had come with the raid.He pointed his wand at the face of Lucius Malfoy and spoke:

"Enervate".

The potion had been administered.Three drops precisely into a glass of water, shortly (forcibly) taken by Lucius Malfoy.As luck would have it, after the slimy worm had escaped from his grip, he had run square into John, and Ada had come tearing after him and stunned him there and then.Malfoy was staring straight at him, but unseeing.The vacuous gaze that signified the Veritaserum had taken effect made him slightly uneasy.

_That's just because you fear what dark little secrets would come pouring out of your mouth…_

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Severus shook his head irritably and turned round to the rest and nodded.Yoshi glided forward to where Malfoy was sitting and crouched down in front of him.

Yoshi had taken back his katana quietly and without ceremony.He picked the lock "muggle-style" and had muttered a few words of thanks before returning the blade to its sheath as if it had never been gone.They had rounded up the stunned Death Eaters (six in total,) and Lupin had bound the others and deposited them in a heap in the opposite corner of the room. Amongst their ranks were Crabbe and Goyle (destined forever to be the sidekicks of the Malfoys, he had thought scathingly,) and some others that he didn't recognise.

_Probably new recruits.It makes perfect sense.The Lord will be looking to increase his power base…_

While he was lost in his thoughts, the interrogation had started.

"How many of you are there?" Yoshi had asked – his voice filled with barely suppressed vehemence.

Malfoy's heavy, dark lids flickered open and shut – then he answered in an emotionless monotone – barely resembling his plumy, aristocratic sneer;

"About thirty of us. Fifteen in two teams".

"Who is in charge of this mission?"

"Wormtail is in the first team.But Nott is in the second team.The Lord is watching over us".

Yoshi's eyes narrowed at the latter comment – but he carried on, regardless."Have you taken any hostages?"

"Yes.There were people…staff…around the main offices".

There was collective a hiss of indrawn breath as Malfoy spoke.He felt Minerva start beside him.

"Where are they, and are any of them hurt?"

Malfoy's eyes fluttered slightly and he swallowed dispassionately."They are on the floor below Fudge's office – the Lord…killed some of them…as an example…"Malfoy grinned stupidly, his head lolling on his shoulders."Memory charms are then to be cast upon the remaining staff, and later disposed of in a manner which would appear to be purely accidental".

"Bastard," he heard William whisper behind him.

"And where is Voldemort?" Yoshi asked hollowly.

Malfoy's head lifted from his chest and his eyes suddenly focused.He grinned again and spoke in a mere whisper.

"He's behind you…"

_Authour's Note:_

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_How about that for a cliffhanger, eh? No, really.The next chapter (if I could call it a chapter,) will be a brief interlude which I'm not sure if I will include as of yet. I know that this chapter was quite a bit shorter than the last, but I am trying.Chapter eight will be out sometime in the near future and maybe we will actually see the beginnings of a plot, if you are lucky._

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_Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time. _

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_Creative criticisms welcome. _

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_- Ada Kensington._

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